Give Thanks For The Goons

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am a very thankful man. As you sit to break bread and give thanks with family and friends today, I invite you to think about some things you might be thankful for. For instance:

I am thankful there are still players like Trevor Gillies out there. He’s a young kid just trying to make it to the show. He knows how he’s going to get there, and has no problem doing the job asked of him.

I am thankful Gordie Dwyer had a fight last night. I was beginning to think he was a woman.

I am thankful Tie Domi is still in the league. He had a fight with Andrew Alberts last night, and played a regular shift as well. He’s one of the guys that got me interested in fights in the first place, and I am glad he still plays.

I am thankful for all the boys across the AHL, NHL, ECHL, CHL, UHL, and whatever HL, out there willing to drop the gloves.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Related posts:

Do Enforcers Still Exist in Hockey? Modern NHL Fight Roles

If you've spent any time on Reddit or hockey Twitter lately, you've probably seen the question pop up: are enforcers still a thing in hockey? It's usually asked by someone who just watched Matt Rempe try to dismantle a human being, or maybe someone who tuned out around 2011 and is just getting back into the sport. The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes, but they don't look like Bob Probert anymore. The game has changed, the rules have tightened, and the days of the three-minute-per-...

2026-05-17

Union Labor and Broken Bones: A Gregory Campbell Sweater in the Wild

This post is a tribute to the Boston Bruins fourth line legacy, specifically the Merlot Line - the trio of Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton, and Daniel Paille who defined gritty, grinding hockey at TD Garden from 2010 to 2014. Written from the perspective of a lifelong Bruins fan who spotted a Gregory Campbell Bruins sweater in the crowd during the 2025-26 season, it covers the Merlot Line Boston Bruins history, the heavyweight fight record of Shawn Thornton Bruins fans still talk about, and the...

2026-04-27

Three Seconds In: Every Fight From the 2026 NHL Playoffs So Far

GoonBlog.com is tracking every confirmed hockey fight from the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first round kicked off April 18, 2026, and the gloves came off almost immediately – starting with Brady Tkachuk and Jordan Staal dropping them three seconds into Game 1 of the Ottawa Senators vs. Carolina Hurricanes series. This post covers all four confirmed playoff tilts logged on the premier hockey fighting database through April 26, 2026, with blow-by-blow breakdowns, fight verdicts, and series ...

2026-04-26

The Best 2024-2025 NHL Fights

From blue-line brawls to full-blown melees, this season was a gritty masterclass in one of the sport of hockey’s greatest differentiators: dropping the gloves. The 2024–25 NHL season didn’t just deliver highlight-reel goals and breakout rookies. It delivered pugilistic carnage. And for fans who remember the golden era of enforcers, the message was clear- the fight game is far from dead. Fists, Fury and a Full 82 There were 297 regular-season fights and two more in the playoffs, mar...

2025-06-29

Bob Probert's Funeral: Farewell to a Legend

Remembering the greatest hockey enforcer of all time: Bob Probert.

2024-03-25